Figures

It figures

48 million

People do not regularly put on a seat belt when they are on the road, according to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration. The government says those who don’t buckle up are often young men who live in rural areas and drive pickups. Men account for 65 percent of the more than 31,000 people killed each year in passenger vehicles.

13 %

New Mexico’s rate of uninsured motorists. Last year, the rate was 33 percent. The national average is 14 percent, according to National Association of Insurance Commissioners.

8th

Colorado’s national ranking for motorcycle deaths per 100,000 people. The state is the only one in the top 10 without a helmet law. The death rate between 2000 and 2004 in the state was 1.77 per 100,000 people, according to data compiled by Scripps Howard News Service using statistics from the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration.

18 million

The approximate number of licensed Americans who would fail a state drivers test, according to the second annual GMAC Insurance National Drivers Test. The study revealed that 1 in 11 lack basic driving knowledge and exhibit alarming behaviors on the road. Drivers deliberately disregard pedestrians and treat driving as the new “down time,” where they catch up on the day’s activities, diverting their attention from the road, the study said.